With 15,000 Hadiths memorised, Ugandan student competes on continental stage in South Africa
By Hashim Kalungi
A young Ugandan prodigy, Aiman Kavuma, carried the hopes of Uganda not on a sports field, but on the international stage of Islamic scholarship, armed with the memorization of over 15,000 hadiths.
The two-day contest organized by the King of Saudi Arabia in Sandton South Africa, dubbed King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Quran and Sunnah Memorization Competition for the African continent kicked off on 17th Wednesday 2025.
During the competition, participants demonstrated their memorization abilities by mastering various portions of the Quran and Hadiths; full Qu’ran (30 Juz/parts), half of the Qu’ran (15 juz) and 5 juz, among other parts. They will also showcase their ability in memorization of Hadiths (50), 25 and 15, among other categories.
Sheikh Dr. Kassim Mutazindwa, director of Ibin Salam Islamic Nursery and Primary school, ahead of the departure of Kavuma – a primary seven pupil, applauded the King of Saudi Arabia for supporting teaching and dissemination of Quran and Hadith in the world.
He said that supporting and encouraging competitiveness in Quran and hadith memorization, recitation and interpretation will greatly benefit the Muslim community around the Grobe, thanking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for taking the lead in this noble cause.
“Hadith memorisation is not common in the country. Learning from Muslim countries elsewhere, Ibin Salam Islamic Nursery and primary school decided to take the lead and introduced the idea of Hadith memorization in addition to the already existing Quran memorization,” he said, adding “We are happy that our efforts are now paying off.”
Dr. Mutazindwa noted that this development should be an eye opener to the parents and entire Muslim community to support schools devoted to Quran and Hadith memorization.
Kavuma thanked Allah and his school for the opportunity to take part in Quran and hadith memorization competitions, saying that he is optimistic that with Allah’s he will be victorious.
Kavuma said that after memorising the entire Quran, he embarked on the journey of memorising hadith – and has so far memorised 15,000 and counting.
“The competition called for 50 hadiths, but Allah has enabled me to memorise over 10,000 hadiths. I hope this gives me an upper hand in the race,” he said before setting off to South Africa.
The prizes for winners include Shs. 50m, 25m and 20 for the winner, first and second runners up respectively in the Quran category while those in the Hadith category will race for Shs 20m, 15m, 10m for the winner, first and second runners up respectively.
Sheikh Hassan Mayinja, a teacher at Ibin Salam Islamic Nursery and Primary School challenged organisers of Qu’ran competitions in the country to also consider introducing hadith memorization competitions as a way of promoting hadith study, noting that Qu’ran and Hadith are inseparable guiding principles of Muslims.
“Imagine your child or relative going abroad not to take part in trade, or labour export but to represent the country in recitation, memorization of the Quran and Hadith! This should be a morale boost to the Muslim community in the county to invest more in supporting Islamic schools and our children to learn Islam,” Sheikh Mayinja said.
